st expect mediation or advice in this his strange love-suit."

"Saladin is noble," answered the Emir, "and will not spur a generous
horse to a leap which he cannot achieve. Come with me to my tent,"
he added, "and thou shalt be presently equipped with a disguise as
unsearchable as midnight, so thou mayest walk the camp of the Nazarenes
as if thou hadst on thy finger the signet of Giaougi." [Perhaps the same
with Gyges.]

CHAPTER XXIV

A grain of dust
Soiling our cup, will make our sense reject
Fastidiously the draught which we did thirst for;
A rusted nail, placed near the faithful compass,
Will sway it from the truth, and wreck the argosy.
Even this small cause of anger and disgust
Will break the bonds of amity 'mongst princes,
And wreck their noblest purposes.
THE CRUSADE.

The reader can now have little doubt who the Ethiopian slave really was,
with what purpose he had sought Richard's camp, and wherefore and
with what hope he now stood close to the person of that Monarch, as,
surrounded by his valiant peers of England and Normandy, Coeur de Lion
stood on the summit of Saint George's Mount, with the Banner of England
by his side, borne by the most goodly person in the army, being his own
natural brother, William with the Long Sword, Earl of Salisbury, the
offspring of Henry the Second's amour with the celebrated Rosamond of
Woodstock.

From several expressions in the King's conversation with Neville on the
preceding day, the Nubian was left in anxious doubt whether his disguise
had not been penetrated, especially as that the King seemed to be aware
in what manner the agency of the dog was expected to discover the thief
who stole the banner, although the circumstance of such an animal's
having been wounded on the occasion had been scarce mentioned in
Richard's presence. Nevertheless, as the King continued to treat him
in no other manner than his exterior required, the Nubian remained
uncertain whether he was or was not discovered, and determined not to
throw his disguise aside voluntarily.

Meanwhile, the powers of the various Crusading princes, arrayed under
their royal and princely leaders, swept in long order around the base
of the little mound; and as those of each different country passed by,
their commanders advanced a step or two up the hill, and made a signal
of courtesy to Richard and to the Standard of England, "in sign of
regard and ami